On the last two days of November, the Conroe Woodlands College Park Cavaliers hosted their annual Cavalier Clash. The Girls’ side of the tournament included five teams from the Houston metro area, and four teams from across Texas. The 6A schools were #5 Klein Oak, #8 College Park, #10 Katy, #13 Grand Oaks, #13 Caney Creek, #24 Cibolo Steele, and El Paso Pebble Hills . #16 Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial also represented the highest ranked 5A squad. Huntsville, an up-and-coming 5A team was also in the mix.
Despite this tournament being classified as on the small scale, there were still twenty-six ranked wrestlers looking to improve their status, including sixteen top ten ranked wrestlers, of which three held #1 rankings.
Day one saw pool action in all weights but 165 lbs. due to only two wrestlers being registered for the weight. The wrestling on Day 1 led to seedings for Day 2.
This article will focus on each championship bout.
At 100 lbs., #4 ranked Natalie Roberson, a sophomore from Katy, met #7 ranked, 5A Abigail Mendoza of Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial (CCVM). Mendoza was 51-5 last season, and is 115-19 overall. She is a three-time, 5A Region 4 champion (2X at 100 lbs. and once at 95 lbs.). In last year’s Cavalier Clash, she pinned Roberson twice. In their Pool match, Roberson defeated Mendoza 16-10, which Mendoza had led until the third period.
In the finals, both girls were more cautious, with no one scoring in the first period. In the second, Roberson selected bottom and scored first with an escape. After a minute and a half, Roberson got the takedown. Mendoza earned her first point with a standing escape with 0:07 to go. In the final period, it was Mendoza’s turn to choose bottom. She was able to get her one point on her second attempt at standing. Mendoza had a hold on one or the other of Roberson’s legs for over a minute, and after a brief scramble in the waning seconds, she was awarded an escape as time ran out for a 5 – 4 championship decision.
The 107 lb. championship had #4 Emily Beltran a Katy 11th grader pair up with #5 Chloe Hanes, a senior from Klein Oak. Beltran competed at 120 lbs. the last two seasons. Beltran defeated 6A #15 Mia Brown of Cibolo Steele to get to the title match. At the whistle, Beltran overwhelmed Hanes with a quick single takedown and reverse half for a quick NF-2. Working for a reverse cradle, she turned Hanes over for a NF-4. With a 9-0 lead, Beltran selected bottom. As soon as Hanes released Beltran’s ankle, she stood, turned in, and hipped into Hanes, forcing her to the mat. Using a cross-face and spin, she was awarded the reversal after thirty seconds. Hanes tried to stand, but was brought quickly back to the mat. Beltran ended up throwing a leg, but went down on one hip. Hanes tried to back into her, but was pulled back to her own back, which turned into a Beltran win by fall with 0:14 left in the period. The win extended Beltran’s record to 13-0.
#16 ranked Mya Maronen of 5A CCVM and Calleigh Freifeld of Katy met in the 114 lb. final match. Maronen pinned 6A #13 Kylie Smith of College Park in the semis in order to face the third Katy Tiger, Freifeld. Maronen scored first with a spin-around takedown, then rode Freifeld for over a minute with a leg ride, and then a heavy back ride, but got too high and Freifeld was able to grab a leg and turn forcing Maronen onto her hip.
